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http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/recharger-to-boost-chances-of-mm-workforce
Recharger to boost chances of 'M&M' workforce
Mr Andrew Er and his team at Workforce Singapore started the Career Recharger programme last year. It is a structured system that provides job seekers facing emotional stress with more targeted counselling. Sometimes, job seekers need more than just technical help. ST PHOTO: LEE JIA WEN
Published
Feb 11, 2018, 5:00 am SGT
Joanna Seow
Political Correspondent
Since becoming a career coach at Workforce Singapore (WSG) six years ago, Mr Andrew Er, 30, has not just linked job seekers with suitable opportunities - he has been consoling those who are in tears and helping others identify the emotions they are experiencing.
While he used to serve more rank-and-file workers, more professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) are coming forward for help. The past few years have been especially hard on this group, he notes.
He recalls one business development manager - the sole breadwinner of his family - who, after 23 years in his first and only job at a lighting manufacturer, was retrenched. The man said he felt useless.
"I felt the pain of his job loss as he shared with me that he was at the lowest moment of his life," says Mr Er.
Statistics show that PMETs make up a growing share of the resident workforce, and they also make up more of those retrenched. Nearly six in 10 people who lost their jobs in the first nine months of last year were PMETs.
Similarly, middle-aged and middle-wage workers are one of the main groups that Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing is concerned about.
Calling them the "M&M" group, he says they face greater competition from workers overseas now that the Internet has made markets more connected.
Recharger to boost chances of 'M&M' workforce
Mr Andrew Er and his team at Workforce Singapore started the Career Recharger programme last year. It is a structured system that provides job seekers facing emotional stress with more targeted counselling. Sometimes, job seekers need more than just technical help. ST PHOTO: LEE JIA WEN
Published
Feb 11, 2018, 5:00 am SGT
Joanna Seow
Political Correspondent
Since becoming a career coach at Workforce Singapore (WSG) six years ago, Mr Andrew Er, 30, has not just linked job seekers with suitable opportunities - he has been consoling those who are in tears and helping others identify the emotions they are experiencing.
While he used to serve more rank-and-file workers, more professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) are coming forward for help. The past few years have been especially hard on this group, he notes.
He recalls one business development manager - the sole breadwinner of his family - who, after 23 years in his first and only job at a lighting manufacturer, was retrenched. The man said he felt useless.
"I felt the pain of his job loss as he shared with me that he was at the lowest moment of his life," says Mr Er.
Statistics show that PMETs make up a growing share of the resident workforce, and they also make up more of those retrenched. Nearly six in 10 people who lost their jobs in the first nine months of last year were PMETs.
Similarly, middle-aged and middle-wage workers are one of the main groups that Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing is concerned about.
Calling them the "M&M" group, he says they face greater competition from workers overseas now that the Internet has made markets more connected.
